My point is pretty simple: the orbital definition arbitrarily places like objects in different classes in a way that the intrinsic definition does not. I have yet to hear a good explanation of why the orbital definition is as good as the intrinsic definition, let alone superior.

"First, because not only has Pluto not cleared it's orbit of planetoids, but it's orbit is also disturbed by another planet (Neptune). Two, the perturbation is significant enough that Pluto's orbit is chaotic, and we have not yet been able to prove that it is even stable (Pluto may potentially be 'captured' by…

It's not mentioned because it's not something we are able to detect from this distance … yet.

You'll need to take that up with the planetary scientists making the proposal. The IAU definition is pretty flawed. The "clears its orbit" criterion depends more on the location of a body than the intrinsic qualities of the planet itself - Earth wouldn't clear its orbit if it were as far out as Pluto.

In fairness, it wasn't clear at the time just how close we really got to armageddon.

He was right to stand up for them. He just didn't do it well. The correct response is that the problem is fundamentalism of any stripe.

So you don't want to try to change their mind?

Have it face to face and treat the other person like a human being.

I don't think that's entirely fair. He routinely talks about empowering moderate muslims, and points out that US muslims are not the problem. His position is that Islam is in need of a reformation, much like middle ages Christianity. He doesn't advocate war in the middle east, nor does he support any sort of…

Any ethos that includes the belief that [principle of your choice] is more important than life itself is potentially dangerous and damaging. Of course, we all have something that we consider worth dying for, be it human rights, faith, or the Double Barrel burger at Red Cow. In the end, we all need to remember that…

McKiernan actually wrote is first novel (The Silver Call) as a sequel to LOTR, in which Dwarves attempt to retake Moria. Doubleday tried to get rights from Tolkien's estate, but failed. So McKiernan wrote a prequel to his sequel (The Iron Tower) that was the most obvious LOTR rip-off ever, basically because that's…

Fair point, but I think the context contradicts it. That interpretation would mean that the author thinks that the element that is gimmicky is the content of the parentheses, rather than the actual use of parentheses. But the content of the parentheses is "500" - if there's a gimmick there, it's as obscure as fuck.

You've got your plural and singular mixed up.

"(500) Days Of Summer is a gimmicky movie in a lot of ways, starting with the parenthesis in its title"

Except that has never been Maher's position. He opposed the Iraq war from the start, for example. He seems to be more interested in criticizing the religion than in calling for any sort of action against muslims.

The Tehran subway has cars just for women for this reason, but women are allowed to ride in the other cars as well.

Yeah, but Deflategate was a load of horse crap, scientifically speaking.

If you think Berniecrats aren't numerous enough to "push the needle", you don't get to blame them for the results of this election.

While the GOP is truly terrible, you give the Democratic party a bit too much credit. They did NOT want everyone to vote in the primary.

Lori Mattix.